I know I didn’t imagine it…

[Fuckmyliferightnow]

A couple of years ago I saw/read something about women under 50 have to go 2 years without a period to be classed as post menopausal.
I’ve searched and it’s like that advice never existed, it’s 1 year regardless of age.
Does anyone else remember this advice? If you do, where did you see it? I know I saw it somewhere and not that long ago.

Yes I remember that too.

Are you sure that it wasn't that women under 50 should wait 2 years before stopping contraception? I know it kind of amounts to the same thing, but my understanding is that technically menopause is when your periods stop, but because you only know when that was with hindsight, the "official" date of menopause is a year after your last period. But this is just an arbitrary date. For the vast majority of women, not having had a period for a year will mean they are menopausal - perhaps for under fifties there's a higher chance that you might still ovulate again after this cut off.

I think the second poster has it. The two-year figure is contraception advice, not the definition of menopause. The FSRH (the UK faculty for sexual and reproductive health) and the NHS say that if your periods stop before 50 you should keep using contraception for 2 years after your last period, and for 1 year if you're 50 or over, because ovulation now and then is more likely under 50.

For menopause itself, NICE guideline NG23 uses 12 months without a period and doesn't change that by age. So you probably did see it, just in a contraception context. If you're on hormonal contraception or HRT your bleeding pattern can't be used this way at all, so it's worth asking your GP or a sexual health clinic when it's safe to stop.

It could well have been from a contraception point of view.
Thank you I didn’t think of it that way.